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Department of Political Science

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics

Students on Summer 2024, Fall 2024, or Spring 2025 requirements POLSECONBA

Requirements

The major requires at least 42 credit hours* (48 with Addenda Requirements), including the requirements listed below.
  1. Political Science courses.
    1. Core course. One (1) course:
      • POLS-Y 204 Institutional Analysis and Governance
      • POLS-Y 205 Analyzing Politics
      • POLS-Y 303 Formation of Public Policy in the United States
      • POLS-Y 394 Public Policy Analysis
      • POLS-Y 405 Models and Theories of Political Decision Making
    2. Electives. 15 credit hours:
      • POLS-P 301
      • POLS-P 302 The Politics of Economic Crisis and Reform
      • POLS-P 303
      • POLS-Y 204 Institutional Analysis and Governance
      • POLS-Y 205 Analyzing Politics
      • POLS-Y 300
      • POLS-Y 301 Political Parties and Interest Groups
      • POLS-Y 302 Public Bureaucracy in Modern Society
      • POLS-Y 303 Formation of Public Policy in the United States
      • POLS-Y 304 Constitutional Law
      • POLS-Y 305 Constitutional Rights and Liberties
      • POLS-Y 306 State Politics in the United States
      • POLS-Y 307 Indiana State Government and Politics
      • POLS-Y 308 Urban Politics
      • POLS-Y 313 Environmental Policy
      • POLS-Y 317 Voting, Elections, and Public Opinion
      • POLS-Y 326 American Social Welfare Policy
      • POLS-Y 329 Racial and Ethnic Politics in the United States
      • POLS-Y 335 Western European Politics
      • POLS-Y 341 Authoritarian Regimes
      • POLS-Y 343 The Politics of International Development
      • POLS-Y 346 Politics in the Developing World
      • POLS-Y 349 Policy Making Around the Globe
      • POLS-Y 350 Politics of the European Union
      • POLS-Y 376 International Political Economy
      • POLS-Y 394 Public Policy Analysis
      • POLS-Y 399
      • POLS-Y 401 Topics in Political Science
      • POLS-Y 405 Models and Theories of Political Decision Making
      • Up to three (3) total credit hours of the following:
        • POLS-X 477 Field Experience in Political Science
        • POLS-Y 490 Senior Seminar in Political Science
        • POLS-Y 499 Honors Thesis
  2. Economics courses.
    1. Fundamentals of Economics I. One (1) course:
      • ECON-B 251 Fundamentals of Economics for Business I
      • ECON-E 251
      • ECON-S 251 Fundamentals of Economics for Business I: Honors
    2. Fundamentals of Economics II. One (1) course:
      • ECON-B 252 Fundamentals of Economics for Business II
      • ECON-E 252 Fundamentals of Economics II
    3. Intermediate Microeconomic Theory. One (1) course:
      • ECON-E 321 Intermediate Microeconomic Theory
      • ECON-S 321 Intermediate Microeconomic Theory: Honors
    4. Economics Electives.
      1. Advanced Elective. Two (2) courses and six (6) credit hours:
        • ECON-E 327 Game Theory
        • ECON-E 331 International Trade
        • ECON-E 332 International Monetary Economics
        • ECON-E 337 Economic Development
        • ECON-E 341 Economics of Labor Market
        • ECON-E 344 Health Economics
        • ECON-E 351 Law and Economics
        • ECON-E 361 Public Finance: Government Spending
        • ECON-E 362 Public Finance: Taxation
        • ECON-E 364 Environment and Resource Economics
        • ECON-E 371 Introduction to Applied Econometrics
        • ECON-E 385 Economics of Industry
        • ECON-E 386 Soviet-Type Economies in Transition
        • ECON-E 390 Undergraduate Seminar in Economics
        • ECON-E 392 Seminar in Computational Methods and Econometrics
        • ECON-E 401 Machine Learning for Economic Data
        • ECON-E 402 Computational Methods In Macroeconomics
        • ECON-E 425 Financial Economics
        • ECON-E 427 Seminar in Experimental Economics
        • ECON-E 471 Econometric Theory and Practice I
        • ECON-E 472 Econometric Theory and Practice II
        • ECON-E 490 Advanced Undergraduate Seminar in Economics
        • ECON-E 411
        • ECON-S 371 Introduction to Applied Econometrics: Honors
        • ECON-X 398 Independent Research in Economics
      2. Free Elective. One (1) additional course:
        • Any ECON-E 300–399 except ECON-E 321; ECON-E 370
        • Any ECON-E 400–499 except ECON-E 496
        • Any ECON-X 300–399 except ECON-X 373
  3. Statistics. One (1) course:
    • ECON-E 370 Statistical Analysis for Business and Economics
    • ECON-S 370 Statistical Analysis for Business and Economics: Honors
    • POLS-Y 395 Quantitative Political Analysis
  4. Addenda requirements**.
    1. Finite Mathematics. One (1) course:
      • MATH-M 118 Finite Mathematics
      • MATH-S 118 Honors Finite Mathematics
    2. Calculus. One (1) course:
      • MATH-M 119 Brief Survey of Calculus I
      • MATH-M 211 Calculus I
  5. Major GPA, Hours, and Minimum Grade Requirements.
    1. Major GPA. A GPA of at least 2.000 for all courses taken in the major—including those where a grade lower than C- is earned—is required.
    2. Major Minimum Grade. Except for the GPA requirement, a grade of C- or higher is required for a course to count toward a requirement in the major.
    3. Major Upper Division Credit Hours. At least 18 credit hours in the major must be completed at the 300–499 level.
    4. Major Residency. At least 18 credit hours in the major must be completed in courses taken through the Indiana University Bloomington campus or an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program.
    5. College Breadth. At least 38 credit hours must be completed in courses from College of Arts and Sciences disciplines outside of the major area.

Major Area Courses
  • Unless otherwise noted below, the following courses are considered in the academic program and will count toward academic program requirements as appropriate:

    • Any course at the 100–499 level with the ECON or POLS subject area prefix—as well as any other subject areas that are deemed functionally equivalent
    • Any course contained on the course lists for the academic program requirements at the time the course is taken—as well as any other courses that are deemed functionally equivalent—except for those listed only under Addenda Requirements
    • Any course directed to a non-Addenda requirement through an approved exception
Exclusions

The following courses cannot be applied toward major requirements or the College Breadth requirement:

  • ECON-E 115 Everyday Economics
Restrictions

The following restrictions apply to the minimum credit hours required in the major:

  • No more than 3 credit hours may count toward the major:
    • ECON-E 499 Honors Thesis
  • No more than 3 combined credit hours of the following may count toward the major:
    • ECON-X 398 Independent Research in Economics
  • No more than 6 combined credit hours of the following may be counted toward major:
    • ECON-E 303 Survey of International Economics
    • ECON-E 331 International Trade
    • ECON-E 332 International Monetary Economics
  • No more than 6 combined credit hours of the following may be counted toward major:
    • ECON-E 308 Survey of Public Finance
    • ECON-E 361
    • ECON-E 362 Public Finance: Taxation
  • No more than 9 combined credit hours of the following may be counted toward major:
    • ECON-E 371 Introduction to Applied Econometrics
    • ECON-E 471 Econometric Theory and Practice I
    • ECON-E 472 Econometric Theory and Practice II
    • ECON-S 371 Introduction to Applied Econometrics: Honors
  • No more than 6 combined credit hours of the following may be counted toward major:
    • ECON-E 499 Honors Thesis
    • POLS-Y 499 Honors Thesis
  • No more than 3 credit hours of each of the following may count toward the major:
    • POLS-X 471 Undergraduate Teaching Assistantship
    • POLS-Y 351 Political Simulations

This program of study cannot be combined with the following:

  • Bachelor of Arts in Economics (ECONBA)
  • Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Mathematics (ECONMATHBA)
  • Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science (ECONPOLSBA)
  • Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Economics (MATHECONBA)
  • Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Political Science (PHILPOLSBA)
  • Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (POLSBA)
  • Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy (POLSPHILBA)
  • Bachelor of Science in Economics and Quantitative Methods (ECONQMBS)
  • Interdepartmental Minor in Economics and Political Science (ECONPOLMIN)
  • Interdepartmental Minor in Political Science and Economics (POLSECNMIN)
  • Minor in Economics (ECONMIN)
  • Minor in Political Science (POLSMIN)
  • [Name unavailable] (INTECONMIN)

Exceptions to and substitutions for major requirements may be made with the approval of the unit's Director of Undergraduate Studies, subject to final approval by the College of Arts and Sciences.